I'm back to work which means I've been flying around too much. Chicago, Charlotte, Hartford, and right now I'm in Florida. I start to feel disconnected and overwhelmed, trying to keep the happy balance of my life. I am craving my home, my family and am feeling such a strong sense of wanting to nest, create, bond once again with my friends.

On to happier things...

What joy!! A beautiful package arrived in the mail sometime while I was away. Eireann so thoughtfully remembered (from over a year ago) how torn I was between the bag seen at the bottom of this post, and this one...

...so she sent it to me as a gift. I do love that orange. Thank you Eireann. It will go everywhere with me this fall.

Before anything else I want to thank you for all the well wishes from my last post. I am so touched by all your kind and thoughtful words. I have been holding my breath every day of this pregnancy and it felt so good to finally be able to share my news.

How great to finally have some energy back, to start living life again. I managed to get out on two big adventures earlier this month. I first read about Junk Bonanzahere. My first thought was "I have to go and meet Lisa no matter how tired I am". We had met when I hosted my first ATC Swap and when I found out how close she lived, I knew we had to meet. I just didn't realize it would take this long. I'm so happy to have made the connection. She is charming, sweet, fun and super talented. I couldn't wait to get my hands on some of her gorgeous bibs.

Another surprise encounter was of a blogger whose site I always seem to link to after reading about one of her super popular swaps she's always hosting. Kari had put together one killer booth that made me want to pick up and touch everything in sight. We hit it off immediately. Something about the common bond of blogging made us friends instantly. I couldn't resist these things from her.

Finally, there was Karen, whose beautiful vintage button jewelry made me dizzy with joy. But Peanut was done so I didn't get a chance to talk with her but hope to in the future.

One last stop in the big tent outside and I scored these lovely buttons. One dollar for each card. What is it about old buttons? I'm always so drawn to them.

The other great adventure I had was a trip to the State Fair. I have to go. Every year, no matter what. Even though my pictures look similar to last years, I love to go...I feel a renewed sense of inspiration from seeing all the creative works on display.

The sculpture made from the garbage pulled out of the Mississippi River.

Somehow, I managed to sleep through the past seven weeks of summer. An unexpected hibernation. I'm sorry for worrying some of you. Please know I have appreciated every phone call, email and letter. It wasn't fair to wait so long to post, especially after the bridge disaster (that was not five miles from my home) got world-wide attention. We are all fine. In fact...we are GREAT! And I'm thrilled to share our happy news that I've been wiped out because I am pregnant.

But it's been one of those pregnancies where I've been holding my breath, worried that it won't last, scared to believe in the possiblity of a second child. My story is similar to that of another blogger, one who is better at voicing her frustration over her losses than I was ever able to. In fact I feel as though we have been in and out of pregnancy at the same time over the past year and a half. So I celebrate with her as we have both passed into the second trimester.

February 14th is my due date. I'll be delivering by c-section around two weeks before then. But how sweet. I will always think of this as my Valentine baby.

What's up with all the paper cranes? Almost two years ago when I had to have surgery to end a miscarriage that wasn't going properly, my doctor suggested a second surgery to remove the grapefruit sized fibroid from my uterus. The hope was to make a future pregnancy less of a risk. While I was recovering, I craved hand work, but all I could manage at the time was folding these peace cranes. I set out to make a thousand, so my wish could come true. I didn't make it too far and eventually went back to my other passions.

So since my last post...eeeek! Almost TWO months ago! I haven't had many creative moments. I did have some work on my calendar and travelled to Los Angeles and to Denver where I managed to sleep-work more than actually work. With the help of dear friends I was able to get through it. I had to train poor neglected Peanut to watch television so I could pass out on the sofa for most of the day. Now he's a Curious George junkie and I'm regretting it terribly!

In my awake moments, I went back to folding the peace cranes. Again, it was all I could handle. In some small way, I felt a sense of accomplishment. With each crane I was able to make another wish for a healthy baby. And I'm finally able to believe in it.

I'm starting to come around. Feeling some energy and even getting out for walks. I certainly have a lot to catch up on and think I can ween myself back into living my life again. One place I am far, far behind is computer time. I would check my work email from time to time, but that was it! I miss seeing what you have all been up to. When Mimi and I last met, she told me about Bloglines which I then suscribed to and right now I'm a little scared of it. Try to imagine what two months of unread posts looks like...you will all keep me busy this weekend as I intend to catch up on my reading. Forgive me in advance for commenting all over your blogs.

One last photo...a significant moment in parenting. Peanut started pre-school yesterday. I cried terribly...must be the hormones.